Apparatus for sinking wells.



G. R. MOORE.

APPARATUS FOR SINKING WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED 0013.1, 1910.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

'oNrTnn STATES PATENT ornron.

GEORGE E. MOORE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR SINKING WELLS.

rename.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE R. Moore, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Sinking Wells, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple and efiective apparatus for sinking wells through quick sand or the like without necessitating the use of compressed air to hold back the sand and water.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in' the claims; but for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through a well which is being sunk in accordance with my invention, the apparatus being also shown in section; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the lower half of the two-part casing; and Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus, only a fragment of the apparatus being shown.

In accordance with my invention I sink an open-ended steel easing into the material to be excavated, set up a row of lagging in the upper portion of the casing to form a lining for the well, excavate the material in the lower half of the casing, sink the casing farther into the material to be excavated while the lagging remains stationary, and set up another row of lagging beneath the first row before the top of the casing has passed below the lower end of the first row. This operation is repeated, successive rows of lagging being set up underneath that already in place until the desired depth has been reached. The casing may be made tight enough to prevent water and other material through which the well is being sunk from flowing into the casing except through the bottom; and the lagging, where properly designed and constructed, will form a sand and water tight lining capable of holding back the sand and water. By setting up successive rows of lagging before Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 1, 1910.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911i.

Serial No. 584,845

the casing has passed entirely beyond the last row, there is never any danger of an inflow of water or sand between the top of the casing and the bottom of the last row of lagging which has been set up. The small amount of water which will rise through the bottom of the casing can easily be disposed of by the simple process of bailing, the bail ing also taking care of any water which will leak through the lagging above the casing. I thus dispense with the use of compressed air which must always be employed to hold back the sand and water where the sides of the well at the point where excavation is taking place must be left exposed until a suflicient depth has been reached to permit a row of lagging to be set up, for in my arrangement the sides of the well are always lined either by the lagging or by the casing and the lining actually extends in advance of the excavation.

I prefer to make all of the parts of my apparatus detachable so that when the bottom of the well is reached, the casing and other parts except those which form the permanent lining may be recovered, unless the condition of the surrounding material be such that a retaining wall must be provided in order to prevent them from filling the bottom of the well.

Referring to the drawing, A represents the upper half of a casing, which is shown as cylindrical in form for the purpose of sinking a round well; it will of course be understood that the cross section of the easing may be varied according to the section desired for the well.

B is the lower half of the casing. The bottom edge of the member B is preferably beveled as at b in order to form a cutting edge which will permit the casing to be sunk easily. I prefer to make each of the members A and B of a plurality of independent sections secured together along vertical lines in any suitable manner.

In the arrangement shown, the member B, which forms the shoe or cutter, is made up of four different sections, each section having secured thereto an angle iron 0' along each vertical edge. When the four sections are assembled together in the form of a cylinder, the angle irons on each section engage with the adjacent angle irons on the contiguous sections. The several sets of engaging angle irons are preferably secured detachably together by means of small shown, each of the sections of the member A has one of its vertical edges secured within one jaw of a small H-iron E. When the sections are assembled together the free edge of each enters the second jaw in the H-iron secured to the adjacent section. In this way the upper half of the casing is prevented from collapsing. Within the upper end of the member B I secure a series of angle irons F, one flange f of each of the angle irons lying against and being secured to one of the sections of the member B and the other flange f lying horizontal and extending inwardly. I prefer to locate the angle irons so that the horizontal flanges lie a short distance above the upper end' of the member B, thus forming a shoulder or seat about which the member A fits when it is set upon the member B.

The members A and B are secured together in any suitable way, preferably by securing within the lower end of the member A a small angle iron G which rests upon and is bolted to the angle irons F. It will thus be seen that when the several parts of the casing are secured together they form a rigid structure which may, however, be separated into its component parts so as to be removed from the bottom of the well when the condition of the soil permits.

It is my purpose to sink the casing in the material to be excavated and progressively to build up a permanent lining of lagging in and above the upper end of the casing. The lagging forms a convenient'abutment against which pressure may be exerted to drive the casing downward. Furthermore by placing a thrust upon the lowermost row of lagging it is forced upwardly into intimate engagement with the row above and thus an extremely tight joint may be secured.

Any suitable form of power device may be employed for forcing the casing into the material to be excavated and such power device may be associated with the casing in any suitable manner. I prefer to mount the power device upon the lower half of the casing, the angle irons F serving as convenient abutments for this purpose. In the arrangement shown, I have reinforced each of the angle irons F with a block or bracket H through which and the adjacent portion of the angle iron extends a vertical screw jack I. Within the casing above the screw jacks is a follower K which fits loosely in the casing so as to be free to move up and down in the same. Normally the follower rests upon the upper ends of the members I. The follower may conveniently take the form of a ring of angle iron, divided into two or more sections if desired.

In sinking a well, any usual process may be practiced until quick sand or the like is encountered, the well being lined with lagging as the sinking progresses. When quick sand is reached the casing is introduced in the bottom of the well. The follower is brought against the lower end of the lagging and then the screw jacks are turned so as to drive the casing down. As soon as room is provided beneath the lagging for another row, the screw jacks are lowered and the lagging is placed in position. The screw jacks are then again operated, bearing on the follower which in turn bears on the lower end of the lagging; the new lagging is forced firmly against that lying above it; and the new casing begins its downward travel.

In order to obtain the best results from my invention the lagging, which I have indicated at L, should be in sections shorter than the height of the casing above the follower when the jacks are lowered. Where this is the case, the casing will always overlap a portion of the permanent lining of the well so that there is no chance for sand or water to flow over the top of the casing and underneath the last row of lagging at any stage in the operation. In Fig. 1 the parts are shown in the condition in which they are after the casing has been driven down below the row of lagging L far enough to permit another row L to be set up. It will be seen that the upper portion of the casing still overlaps the lower portion of the lagging L. Thereafter, when the jacks are operated, exerting their thrust against the lower edge of the lagging L, the casing is driven down until it clears the lagging L and is almost ready to clear the lower end of the lagging L. But before the sides of the well can be exposed below the lagging L suflicient room has been made to permit still another row of lagging to be set up. In this way the well can be driven to any desired depth, there being always a temporary wall for the well somewhat in advance of the actual excavation and overlapping the permanent wall, so that no opportunity is given the sides of the well to cave in. Since the sand and dirt cannot cave in at the sides of the well, it is only necessary to make provision for removing such water as seeps in through the lining and through the bottom of the casing. This seepage will generally be so small that the well can be kept dry enough for practical purposes by simply dipping out the water in buckets, thus making it possible to dispense entirely with compressed air.

Of course after every shifting operation of the casing, or at intervals during such shifting operation, the material within the lower half of the casing is excavated in any usual manner. Furthermore the lagging may be braced at intervals by means of pressure rings one of which in. indicated at M.

If the casing is introduced before there is any lagging to obstruct it, it may beassembled outside of the well and placed in position in its assembled condition. It is, however, possible to introduce the casing even after the well has been lined so as to make its diameter smaller than the diameter of the casing; for the casing may be placed in the well in pieces and be assembled at the bottom of the well.

While I have described with particularity the best apparatus now known to me I do not desire to be limited to all the structural details thus described, but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which fall within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A well-sinking apparatus including a casing open at the top and bottom, the bottom of the casing constituting a cutting edge, shoulders projecting inwardly from the sides of the casing between the ends thereof, and a plurality of power devices screw-threaded into said shoulders so as to lie parallel with the axis of the casing.

2. A well-sinking apparatus including a casing open at the top and bottom, the bot tom of the casing constituting a cutting edge, shoulders projecting inwardly from the sides of the casing between the ends thereof, a plurality of power devices screwthreaded into said shoulders so as to lie parallel with the axis of the casing, and an annular follower resting loosely upon the upper ends of said power device.

3. In a well-sinking apparatus, a casing open at the top and at the bottom, shoulders extending inwardly from the sides of the casing between the ends thereof, power devices screw-threaded into said shoulders so as to be movable parallel with the axis of the casing, a follower resting loosely upon said power device, and lagging adapted to be set up within the casing to form a lining for a well which isbeing sunk, said lagging being in lengths less than the height of the casing above the follower when the power devices are at the lowermost limits of their movement.

4:. In a well-sinking apparatus, a casing open at the top and at the bottom and comprising two sections detachably connected together along a horizontal plane, each of said sections being made of a series of members detachably connected together along vertical lines, shoulders projecting inwardly from the sides of the casing, a follower loosely arranged in the casing above said shoulders, and power devices between said follower and said shoulders for producing relative vertical movements between the fol lower and the casing.

5. In a well-sinking apparatus, a casing open at the top and at the bottom, said casing being composed of two sections detach ably secured together along a horizontal plane, the lowermost of said sections being composed of a plurality of members detachably secured together along vertical lines, shoulders projecting inwardly from said casing between the ends thereof, and power devices operatively associated with said shoulders for producing movements in the vertical direction, a portion of each of said power devices lying above the shoulders.

6. In a well-sinking apparatus, a casing open at the top and at the bottom, said casing being divided into two halves detachably secured together along a horizontal plane, the lower half of the casing being formed of a series of members detachably connected together along vertical lines, shoulders projecting inwardly from the lower half of the casing, and power devices screw-threaded into said shoulders so as to have capacity for vertical movements relative thereto, portions of said power device extending above said shoulders.

7. In a well-sinking apparatus, a casing open at the top and at the bottom, said casing being divided into two halves detachably secured together along a horizontal plane, the lower half of the casing being formed of a series of members detachably connected together along vertical lines, shoulders projecting inwardly from the lower half of the casing, power devices screw-threaded into said shoulders so as to have capacity for vertical movements relative thereto, portions of said power device extending above said shoulders, and a follower arranged within the casing and resting loosely upon said power device.

8. In a well-sinking apparatus, a casing open at the top and at the bottom, said casing being divided into two halves detachably secured together along a horizontal plane, the lower half of the casing being formed of a series of members detachably connected together along vertical lines, shoulders projecting inwardly from the lower half of the casing, power devices screw-threaded into said shoulders so as to have capacity for vertical movements relative thereto, portions of said power device extending above said shoulders, a follower arranged within the casing and resting loosely upon said power device, and lagging adapted to be set up within the casing upon said follower to form a lining for a well which is being sunk.

9. In a well-sinking apparatus, a casing ing being divided into two halves detachably secured together along a horizontal plane, the lower half of the casing being formed of a series of members detachably connected together along vertical lines, shoulders projecting inwardly from the lower half of the casing, power devices screw-threaded into said shoulders so as to have capacity for vertical movements relative thereto, portions of said power device extending above said shoulders, a follower arranged within the casing and resting loosely uponsaid power device, and lagging adapted to be set up within the casing upon said follower to form a lining for a well which is being sunk, the length of the lagging being less than the height of the casing above the follower when said power devices are in their lowermost positions.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

GEO. R. MOORE. Witnesses:

WM. F. FREUDENREICH, RUBY V. BRYDGES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

